Lori Borgman: Thank you for the thank-you

Lori Borgman, Tribune News Service on Nov 3, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

“Sit down and take a deep breath,” the husband says, as he brings in the mail. “You’re going to love this.”

“We won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes!” I yell.

“No,” he says.

“It’s a check from the government saying they’re sorry they overcharged us on taxes for the past 45 years.”

“Wrong again,” he says. He dangles a small 4-by-6-inch white envelope in front of my nose.

“It can’t be,” I whisper. “Something from a real person?”

Day after day, week after week, our mailbox is stuffed with junk mail, circulars, flyers, unwanted promotional catalogs and advertisements, but real mail? We get real mail about as often as we get invited to Buckingham Palace.

He slowly turns the envelope around so I can see the address on the front written in purple ink. I recognize the handwriting.

“Be still my heart — a thank-you note!” I shriek.

Some say thank-you notes are no longer necessary, that they are as out of date as rotary-dial phones and Farrah Fawcett’s big hair.

I didn’t know that saying thank you had term limits. Saying thank you is always in style — even in the digital age. These days, receiving a handwritten thank-you note is like a gift in return for a gift. Saying thank you keeps us human, kind and courteous.

A well-written thank-you quite simply does three things: It lets the one who gave the gift know that the gift was received, that the gift is appreciated and that the gift will be enjoyed.

The first sentence of our thank you, from an 11-year-old who recently had a birthday, said, “Thanks so much for my foot bath-spa.”

The second sentence expressed how she feels about the gift. “I LOVE it!” (Big exclamation point and LOVE is underlined.)

The final sentence detailed how she planned on using the foot bath-spa, which in this case is often: “I have used it about 100 times already.”

The writer then concludes with her name and a tender embellishment – a drawing of her foot.

I am firmly in the pro thank-you camp. A handwritten thank-you note is a work of art, which is why ours is now hanging on the fridge.